Literal Story
by Direwolf Type Zero
Summary: Time Travel fic. As soon as Cloud wakes up, he knows that something was wrong. Posted on Archive Of Our own under the user Direwolf Type Zero. Eventual polyamory relationship. Starts out with: Cloud/Zack, Cloud/Sephiroth, Cloud/Zack/Sephiroth.
1. Lost

Chapter One

Lost

As soon as Cloud wakes up, he knows that something was wrong. He felt... weird. There was too much noise around him for him to be in the 7th Heaven. _Where am I?_ When Cloud opened his eyes, he's in a familiar but unfamiliar place. There is a bunk above him, one that he faintly recognizes as a ShinRa bunk if only because of the symbol etched into the bottom of it. Confusion spread like a thick mist through his mind, before he begins to internally freak out.

 _Where, exactly, am I?_ Surely someone was pulling a prank on him. But, as he pushed himself into a sitting position, and turned to look around the room, he noticed others within. Some people were fully dressed in ShinRa grade trooper uniforms, others were just groggily waking up like he was.

A door slid open and the room filled with the noises of people quickly getting into place, right at the foot of their beds. Cloud, though, still did not move for several long seconds, blinking sleep from sky-blue hues. It was only when a voice called for attention did he realize that this wasn't some type of elaborate prank that Tifa and the kids could pull off on him. There were too many people, everything was all too real, and for a moment he felt the real fear etching into him that he somehow had dreamed everything that had happened to him for the past several years.

Panic was clearly shown in eyes far too bright to simply be human, though he barely noticed when several troopers urged him to get up before the Third Class SOLDIER that was their assigned leader would get over there. Shoving his panic to the side, Cloud quickly slid out of the bed and practically flung his uniform on. He couldn't dwell on anything right now. He had to figure out what was going o-

"Trooper Strife!" THe voice of the Third class SOLDIER rang out throughout the room, and Cloud froze in place, oddly terrified when truly he shouldn't have been - he's lived this all before, he knows what happens, who's important, what to do to please the Third class SOLDIERS.

"Sir yes sir!" Cloud responded in the proper way, uniform barely hanging on his form. He hadn't properly put it on _at all._ The entire outfit was almost in shambles with how many buckles he had forgotten to tighten.

Before the Third could even think about jumping down his throat, the door flew open _again_ , and the Third spun around, clearly about to yell at whomever had barged into his troop's bunks when he realized exactly _who_ had barged in.

It was Zack Fair, First class SOLDIER, someone who Cloud had known ages ago, someone Cloud had watched _die_ right beside him, someone who had _tried to protect him_. Alive. In the flesh and only a few yards away from him. Truly, Cloud had never been more surprised than he was in this current moment.

Zack, alive and _grinning_ , Zack Fair - someone he had tried to become and pretend to be. For several minutes he just _couldn't breath_. Now he knew he must be dreaming, or something similar. There was no way that Zack could be living, breathing only a few feet away from him, absolutely no way. Yet he was.

And Cloud was dumbfounded, unable to even react as the spiky-haired First made his way over to the Third and grinned.

"Sorry to bother ya, but orders just came in. We're heading out at 0800. We'll be needing some-" Zack cut himself off, blinking and looking towards Cloud. A grin flashed over his lips at the sight of the spiky-haired trooper. "Hey, spikey! I didn't know you were apart of Honan's group!" Clearly, Zack knew him but..but _didn't_ , and merely waved in greeting before he and the Third walked off to the side to talk.

Clearly, though, Zack had inadvertently saved him from being yelled at, and he was rather grateful for that - it gave him time to try and figure out what was going on, to figure out. Cloud calculated, and decided that there was no way that he could _ever_ dream something like what he had, so he deemed that the Planet had done something - it must have.

He accepted whatever the planet was doing, but he needed to know _why_ , it's entirely _not_ okay to just be thrown back in time several years to face the horrors he had nightmares about almost every night. It wasn't okay that he had to deal with this all again - wait. If he was sent back in time, did that mean that Aerith… Was Aerith alive? And Sephiroth, too. Both of them had to be alive.

That was how he would know. If those two were alive, then surely he had been sent back in time. Cloud had to assume that the Planet had used the lifestream to cause this, and if it had - surely someone else remembered, too. Maybe he'd try to find Aerith later - he had to find her and ask her what she knew. But worse, he had to check something urgent.

He felt far too weak, almost like he was human again. Cloud hated the thought - his body ached but not in the good way. He absolutely hated this, and for a moment the old Savior was just tired. _Am I still enhanced?_ Cloud frowned at the thought that popped into his head, fingers twitching as he quickly fixed his uniform.

Okay, so he had to figure out a few things - he had so many questions for Aerith, but he didn't know exactly where he could… the church. He had nearly forgotten! Aerith **always** tended to the flowers there… before she _died_. Perhaps she was there now.

Positively vibrating with energy, Cloud felt the raw _need_ to go find Aerith, to pull her close and hug her and practically maim her with questions. _Soon_ , he sighed, _soon I'll find Aerith and see if she remembers._

But for now Zack and the Third were back, and clearly there was going to be a mission, with the expression on Zack's face, and the hidden worry on the Thirds. Cloud had to guess that a good portions of the troopers were qualified to go, but would more than likely lose their _lives_ on this mission.

Memories came quickly, mind whirling with them. He remembered a good portion of the missions he had been sent on, ages ago. Where he was determined to not give up until he made SOLDIER, where he was terrified fighting for his life, where he had thought many times _this is it, this is where I'm going to die_.

But he never did die. Cloud had managed to stay alive, every time.

Shaking his head free from the thoughts that plagued his mind, Cloud listened to the very brief description of the mission, and was told to be ready within the hour. Generally before missions like these, Cloud would spend the entire time preparing for it, but now… more than anything he wanted to find Zack and just _talk_ to him. If only for a few minutes.

Lucky for him, it seems Zack wanted to talk to him, too. In the next moment, a heavy arm fell across his shoulders and he was led out of the bunks, the First already rambling about getting Cloud something to eat because he's a growing _boy_ and he was so skinny, that he needed all of his strength. Cloud had to admit, he quite enjoyed Zack's mother henning. It was comforting, to think that no matter what Zack would just _accept_ , and move on.

The small diner was just outside of the ShinRa building, and though he knew that Troopers weren't allowed many places, he also knew that having Zack with him overruled those rules - because Zack was… well, he was Zack. Simple as that.

Having ordered almost as much food as Zack, Cloud couldn't help but grin sheepishly at the SOLDIER's look. It would be one pricey breakfast. "Spiky! C'mon, my wallet's been stolen once already, I don't need you to drain it, too!" The SOLDIER whined, and Cloud had the image of a Puppy in mind yet again.

"But Zack, I thought you said that I needed to eat more." Cloud grinned, teasing Zack like an old friend, "and that _you're as skinny as a twig, order as much as you want spikes!"_ He murmured, almost perfectly mimicking the First. Zack stared at Cloud for a moment, almost as if he were astonished by the blonde's words.

"Have you been talking to Angeal? I swear your sassiness is as bad as his." He grumbled, accepting his fate at being poor for a little while longer, if only because he did adore the chocabo.

Cloud blinked at the name, only knowing it through Zack's words and ShinRa's posters. And the memories that he seemed to adapt from Zack years ago.

Cloud rolled his eyes, though, and responded easily enough. "Like he'd spend time talking to _troopers_." He sighed, annoyed by the prospect that he was a trooper. Even if he hated ShinRa, it had always been his dream to be one of them, to achieve what no one had ever thought he could.

Zack huffed, grinning a little. "Yeah, well, you don't need him when you got me, spiky!" Obviously, Zack was happy at the prospect of having Cloud all to himself.

Far too soon and not soon enough, their meals arrived and it was complete silence as they both practically destroyed their plates. The only comment, which Cloud ignored, was made by Zack. "Geeze blonde, you eat as much as a SOLDIER does!"

The meal ended in high spirits, and soon they both headed off to get ready for the next mission - it wouldn't be a long one, but it was still dangerous all the same. Cloud knew that he wouldn't have any weapons beyond the firearms supplied - troopers rarely got their hands on swords, and weren't paid enough to get their own usually.

Cloud would be stuck with the firearms for now, until he could figure something out. Maybe Aerith could help him - she knew all about his sword, the various parts and how they slotted together. She was one of the only people who knew how it works, and that was because of all the time spent in dreams with her. Even if it collectively was all fleeting moments, he simply hoped that it really had been Aerith rather than a dream he had talked to for nights on end.

Soon enough, he was efficiently ready for the mission and they were deployed, cramming into the tight space of the helicopters easily. Zack, a few Thirds, and about three or four troopers were on the first, and the rest followed in the few choppers behind. Cloud had managed to get in the first one, but he already knew by now that flying did _not_ sit right with his stomach.

Quickly, without anyone's notice, he ducked down two pills and swallowed them dry. The flight would take about nine hours, and he could sleep through most of it rather easily. So he did.

When it was close to the time they were going to land, a heavy hand fell on his shoulder and he was startled awake. Blinking, hazy eyes focused on the spiky head of hair above him. "Zack?" He questioned groggily, disoriented once again, but remembering all too quickly what had gone on.

"C'mon, up and at'em! We're going to be landing soon." Zack's cheery voice woke him easily, and he nodded. Shoving himself into a more awake position, he began to work out any kinks, stretching lightly. He truly hated flying, and wished that Zack had waited until they had landed to wake him up, but decided against snapping at his raven-haired friend.

As soon as they touched down, Cloud was the first one out of there and dragging in a few lungfuls of breath, if only to calm himself down. Once he was sure of himself, he pulled his helmet on and followed the rest of the troopers, who were just touching down and getting out as well.

 _ **Literal Story~**_

The mission was over with surprising lack of involvement on the trooper's side. It was a rather easy one, and there was only one reported injury… which, funnily enough, was Cloud's own. He'd misjudged a shot, got himself distracted and received a cut on his head because of it.

Zack had freaked out as soon as he learned of this, and mother-hened over him as soon as the battle was over. Cloud was grateful for materia in that moment, because if it didn't exist Zack would've thrown a fit at how much he was bleeding. He had tried reassuring the idiot that yes, head wounds bleed _a lot_ , and that yes he would' be okay.

" _Zack_! I'm fine, it's just a cut - seriously, I don't even need a Cure." He sighed, obviously enjoying the attention, simply just annoyed that Zack was worrying _so much_ for him, when his health didn't matter as much as Zack's. In this time, he… he was going to make sure Zack stayed _alive_ this time.

Cloud was distracted enough and exhausted enough to not even notice when they had taken off, his mind far away as his thoughts raced across countless memories and countless encounters. The last thing he remembered before any of this happened was fighting Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz.

He couldn't remember much before, or after that. It was like that particular moment was stuck in his mind, but he was unable to actually access the full memory. Sighing, he closed his bright hues and pretended sleep in favor of thinking.

Aerith surely would know something. She had to be apart of this all - she was an Ancient, and she was far more connected to the Planet than any living person he'd met. But what if she didn't remember? What if, truly, all of those memories were simple dreams that he'd constructed in his mind?

 _I can't think like this. They're memories, I can feel it. They're all real… Even if Aerith doesn't remember, I can figure out everything for myself._ With that thought, Cloud restlessly fell into a light sleep, completely forgetting about the heavy sleep aids that rested in the pocket of his uniform.

 _ **Literal Story~**_

When he woke up this time, they had just touched down and Zack was nowhere to be seen, probably having gone off to report to the Director like he should. Cloud carefully and easily pulled himself free from the light safety restraints and made his way off of the chopper. His stomach growled, and he knew he should eat something, but he _really_ needed to talk to Aerith, and soon.

As soon as he changed into something less… eye catching than the uniform given to ShinRa troopers, Cloud made his way silently over to the church. Would Aerith even be there? It was rather late, and it seemed that she hadn't come out here many times during the night years ago. She usually kept to the days, knowing that monsters roamed far more often at night than they did at night.

As Cloud reached the church doors, he rested his forehead against the wood, taking a deep breath. If Aerith wasn't there, he'd return tomorrow regardless of any missions or stray Firsts that wanted to snatch up his attention. These thoughts that plagued his mind had to be dealt with as soon as possible, they couldn't lie in wait for several days.

The doors were pushed open quietly, and booted feet clunked against the floorboards of the church. There, among the beautiful flowers, was Aerith. She was crouched in the middle of them all, looking completely _happy_ and she was _alive_. Just like with Zack, for a few harsh moments his heart stopped dead in his chest.

Aerith didn't even seem to notice him at first, either. She seemed so focused, caught up in her thoughts that even when Cloud came closer she didn't hear him at all. Crouching down right where the floorboards met the garden of floors, Cloud waited. He wasn't going to disturb her, and if she wasn't ready to talk to him or didn't know who he was, he'd simply claim he came to see the flowers.

But it seems his fears were unfounded as Aerith lifted her gentle green gaze caught his panic ridden blues. Aerith's eyes widened, and for a heartbeat they simply stared at each other. The moment passed, and Aerith all but _flung_ herself at Cloud, laughing and smiling. " _Cloud!_ I was wondering when you'd come!" She was all gentle smiles and clear, understanding eyes.

Grateful that she knew him, that she _remembered_ , he curled his arms around her and pulled her close, a soft smile on his own face. They stayed like that for several moments, before she pulled back and looked at him a bit guiltily. Clearly, she had something to do with this all, just by the look in her eyes.

"Aerith… what's going on?" He questioned quietly, confusion swirling in the depths of his sky-blue hues.

"I can't… exactly say everything. But… Sephiroth came back, before. And you - you _died_ Cloud. You were the Planet's last line of defence, and we had no idea what we could do." She sighed, sitting back on her heels and giving him a soft, strained smile. "The Planet had a backup plan, though, in case this happened. We used the lifestream to try and stop it all. The result is where we are now… This is the only chance we get to fix everything." The ancient smiled, though there was a sad look in her eyes.

"We _need_ to save the planet. She cares too much for the people, the good and the bad, but she can't use the lifestream to save us again." Aerith shook her head, slowly standing up and offering Cloud a hand even though he truly didn't need it.

The information took several moments to process in Cloud's calculating mind, but he nodded nonetheless and took the offered hand, rising to his feet as his eyes clouded over in thought. They needed to save the planet? Fix everything? Where to start, how was he even going to try to do any of this?

In this time, he was only a lowly trooper, and Aerith was still just a girl, an Ancient under watch by the Turks almost constantly. There wasn't much they could do - they had limited resources, limited time. How could they come up with a plan to fix everything?

Shaking his head, Cloud sighed. "Aerith, I know that I was the saviour of the planet but… I'm just a trooper now, and if no-one else remembers everything, how can we devise a plan to save everything?" Lifting a hand, he scratched at the back of his head - a habit he had gotten from Zack.

"Well… there is one other person who remembers… But it wasn't the planet's doing. Vincent remember, at least in flashes he does. He's still sleeping though, so we can't entirely count on him to help until we wake him up." Cloud eyed Aerith for a moment, thinking quickly. "But before that, Cloud, you _need_ to become SOLDIER. The planet saved most of your enhancements… but as a precaution I would at least try. It'd be easier to get higher in ShinRa now, anyways, and be able to stay close to Sephiroth… and Zack."

"Alright, well-"

Mid Sentence, his voice was cut off by the sound of the church doors being pushed open and Zack walking in, clearly exhausted but energetic at the thought of visiting Aerith and seeing her. Upon noticing she wasn't alone, though, Zack promptly started with a bewildered look on his features. "Cloud?!" He questioned, walking up to the pair. "Since when have you been coming here?"

Sheepishly, Cloud stepped a little back from Aerith as he eyed his friend. "Ahh, well.." He trailed off, nervously scratching the back of his head and sighing. "Aerith is a good friend of mine. I met her a while ago when she was selling flowers." The explanation wasn't necessarily a good one, but it would work to settle Zack's mind - he was sure of it.

Seeming to accept the words as they were, Zack grinned and pulled both of them close, his arms curling around both Cloud's and Aerith's shoulders. "Well great! We can be a big family then! Cloud gets to be the moody teenager!" Grinning, Zack left go of Aerith in favor of messing up Cloud's hair, dragging mock-annoyed protests of 'not the hair!' out of Cloud. Zack let go of Cloud soon enough, though.

"I just came by to see how the flower's were doing and to check if Aerith was still here." He said simply, rolling his shoulders and glancing towards the Cetra. "It's pretty late outside, you know you shouldn't stay out this late Aerith, regardless if you're worried about some animal trampling on the flowers!"

Aerith made a face, indicating that this was clearly an old argument between the two. "I don't want the flowers to be ripped up, Zack! Besides, it's not _that_ far from my house, I think I could avoid a few monsters." At that Zack rolled his eyes, locking arms with both Aerith and Cloud and leading them out of the church.

"Your flower's will be _fine_ Aerith, don't worry about them! C'mon, me and Cloud will walk you home. Your mother worries about you too much, and I swear she'd take my head off with that spoon of hers if I wasn't there to protect you and you got her!" Zack joked, and it went on for some time like this as they walked Aerith back.

Honestly, Zack was such a talkative person - he made up for Cloud's silence ten fold. When they met Aerith's mother at the door, she thanked them with a smile and asked them if they wanted to stay for a late dinner. Claiming that they both were exhausted, they were able to leave fairly quickly after bidding them both goodbye.

The walk back to ShinRa was quiet, but not in a bad way. It was soothing, to just be able to walk with Zack and knowing that Zack was _there_ , and alive. This day, though weird, wasn't going to bad. If what Aerith said was true… then maybe they could fix everything. Maybe he didn't have to kill Sephiroth, and maybe Zack wouldn't have to protect him and die in the process.

The possibilities were endless, and he had to admit that he was oddly looking forward to the rewrite. Anything could be better than how it played out the first time, surely. All he had to do now was to quickly climb the ranks of SOLDIER before the Nibelheim mission. Before Sephiroth could learn the apparent 'truth' of his creation.

Perhaps he could find the old files of the real truth on Sephiroth. He knew that Hojo did have the files shoved in the darkest corner of his lab somewhere. But no matter what, he couldn't let Sephiroth find the fake files.

He would save them, all of them. This time, he could do it. And if he didn't… then there was more at stake than just his own life. The Planet could be destroyed if he didn't do this. He had to fix this - it wasn't his mistake to fix, but he could and would do it nonetheless.

With that thought, he made his way into the barracks for the Troopers, waving Zack off and saying goodnight to the male. He paused at his bed, staring at the uncomfortable mattress and thin, thin blankets. Sighing, he stripped down to just his pants, and slipped under the paper-thin covers. He had grown up in Nibelheim, he could take a little bit of the cold, and honestly was used to it. He prefered it to the warmth sometimes.

Even though his thoughts were plagued by uncertainties, and the possibilities he slept like the dead.


	2. And Forgotten

Chapter Two

And Forgotten

Cloud woke up feeling oddly refreshed, as no nightmares had been plaguing his sleep the past few nights since he had woken up in the ShinRa building. He had an odd feeling that it was Aerith's or the Planet's doing - as if they didn't want Cloud to be forced to deal with those painful memories when he didn't need to deal with them any longer.

Shrugging sleep from his body, he got up and was dressed quicker than most of the other troopers, even though his mind was far away. It had been about a week since he had woken up in a time he had already lived once. And in that week… things seemed to even out somewhat normally. The only differences that he could note from the original timeline was that Zack visited him much, much more often.

There was only one issue with that was he wasn't given any alone time to visit Aerith, to work out a plan, and he couldn't possibly think about training when the First is around. Seriously, if Zack saw him training almost exactly like a First Class SOLDIER, then they'd start having problems.

Sighing softly, he barely noticed the hustle around the barracks, his mind far away as he planned out the day. He knew there was going to be a mission tonight - but it was one that would be setting out later in the day. From what Zack had been telling him, it would be a two-day mission at least, and a week at most. Honestly, it sounded like a rather easy one - clearing out an infested area was much easier than dealing with a psychopath who wanted to destroy the world, after all.

Cloud guessed that it would be much easier if he could use his enhancements around others, but he knew that he couldn't very well do that until he was in the SOLDIER program officially, if that's what he planned on doing.

In all honesty, he had no exact plan of action - there were set goals he had to accomplish, but no way to achieve those goals in an easy fashion. Cloud had never been a SOLDIER before, although he knew what to expect from the test - he had failed it enough times to realize what he was horrid in and what he had excelled in all those years ago.

So, he supposed he should at least _try_ to achieve the SOLDIER status, it wouldn't take that much work on his part. Cloud was already enhanced, and had dealt with far more troubling things than the tests that were involved in the program. He knew he'd ace the Reflex tests and the Endurance - even if he hated running with his life. Before, the tests he'd failed at had been, surprisingly, the Sword test and the standard Physical.

Cloud had always been a small kid, and at that time he had been practically underweight and working himself constantly to the bone - even if he hadn't needed to. He had been _far_ too thin, too tiny to even think about passing the standard Physical. This time, though, he would do it.

There were two of these tests every year - one in the middle, and one at the end of the year. Judging by the weather, and the dates on his phone, it was close to winter and soon it'd be time for those tests again. Either he could apply for them this winter or by the end of the year. But, if he waited too long, then he'd never be able to stop Sephiroth from finding the false information.

 _Aerith had said something about me trying for the test again, hadn't she?_ Sighing, Cloud shook his head and frowned a little, bright blues unfocused as they flicked about the barracks. He had to talk to Aerith today. It couldn't be put off any more - he'd have to talk to her before their mission and he'd have to avoid Zack to the best of his abilities.

The quick briefing for the mission to come only took about a half an hour - Cloud didn't even really have to pay attention to it - he'd read the mission details on his own, though he doubted any other Troopers had done that, and he was right in his assumption just from the looks on his comrade's faces.

Truly, for a regular Trooper, this type of mission would be one completely out of their league. It was a grueling mission, one that would wear down even a Third's endurance, if only because of the constant fact that they were responsible for the Troopers and their survival.

As soon as they were dismissed, Cloud found himself sneaking out of the building and heading towards a building that was as familiar to him as the back of his hand. Pausing outside the doors of the church, Cloud sighed softly, pushing the large doors open with no effort on his part.

Aerith wasn't there - at least, not that he could see at the moment - so he shut the door behind him carefully, the thump of his boots evident as he walked towards the circle of beautiful flowers he'd enjoyed resting near.

Kneeling beside them, he allowed a gloved hand to fall and caress the petals of a particularly pretty one - a vibrant pink that reminded him a lot of Aerith's usual clothing. Cloud sat there for a while, not truly realizing that ten minutes had passed and all he had done in that time was sit and stare at the pink of the flower.

His mind was far away, an old memory surfacing and replaying in his mind, feeling the dead weight of Aerith in his arms - knowing he was too slow to have saved her. She had been so light, yet she was the heaviest weight he had resting on his shoulders besides Zack's death. Cloud knew that he couldn't have saved either of them, but that didn't mean he could stop the guilt flowing through him.

Being too focused on the memory, and on the flower, Cloud had barely realized that a gently figure dressed in pink sat beside him, a quiet, gentle look in her eyes as she watched Cloud relive the moment of her death.

"Hey." Aerith murmured, a hand lifting and resting against Cloud's shoulder. As if shocked, Cloud jerked back to life, bright blue eyes flicking up quickly to meet the warm green hues of Aerith's.

Smiling sheepishly, Cloud allowed his body to relax as he closed his eyes for a moment, wiping the memories from his mind for the moment. He, and all of the others, had been given a second chance. And he wasn't going to fuck it up - he couldn't fuck it up. "Hey, sorry." He murmured, noticing that when he had jerked - he had ripped a petal off of the pretty pink flower.

"Don't worry about it." She replied easily, although there was mischief in her eyes. "But if you do it again, Cloud, I might just have to beat you up!" She joked, obviously happy that Cloud was here.

"Aerith! C'mon, you know that I couldn't defend myself against you!" He played along, a grin forming on his lips as Aerith laughed. Lightly, Aerith smacked Cloud's arm and huffed.

"You're nearly as bad as Zack!" She giggled, watching the mock horror appear in Cloud's eyes.

"Me? As bad as Zack? Oh, how you wound me!" Cloud wasn't usually one for this teasing nature, or for poking fun at others. But Aerith drew that out of him, and made him open up more than anyone else - anyone besides Zack, that is. Sobering up, though, Cloud looked away and let out a sigh, as if preparing what he had to say.

"Uh-oh, I don't like the sound of that. That was a sigh - something I don't want to hear from you." Aerith tilted her head to the side, and although her smile was no longer present, her gentle air was. Cloud knew that she would always understand him better than anyone else - she had always been the one he'd run to, for help, advice, anything. Even if he never received much response before.

Smiling faintly at Aerith's words, Cloud mulled over his thoughts for a moment, leaning back and resting the majority of his weight on his hands. "Aerith what if… What if we can't do this? It's going to be hard, just the two of us… There's no way that Vincent can wake up on his own…" He sighed again, dragging one of his hands through his hair and shaking his head. "I mean, you can't wake him up, neither can the Planet, and I can't, since I'm too busy trying to figure out how to stop Sephiroth from going _insane_ again." Shaking his head, Cloud flopped onto his back, staring up at the broken ceiling of the church.

"I can probably take the test this winter and become SOLDIER, but that's not the issue - I'd start out as a Third. A nobody, really, only a little better than a trooper. It'd take me forever to work up in the ranks and there's such a slim possibility for me to be chosen for the mission. I don't… How are we going to do this, Aerith?" He sighed again, and was about to open his mouth to continue, when he felt the pressure of Aerith's finger against his lips.

Blinking, he shot a slightly confused look at her, before he realized that he had been rambling, and that she probably had something to say. Cloud forced a small, apologetic smile, and decided to shut up so that Aerith could talk.

"Cloud, I know it's going to be hard - but don't start to doubt yourself or the planet. Or me. We can do this. Don't start doubting everything, okay?" Aerith smiled a little, before she continued. "The planet gave us a second chance because she _knows_ that we can do this. She sent us back here, back in time so that we can make sure none of that happens again." Aerith sighed softly, gently reaching out and plucking a bright yellow flower up from her flower patch. "We _will_ save the planet, and our friends, Cloud." She giggled a little, reaching out and pushing the flower into his hair. "I doubt that either of us could stand Zack dying _again_." She finished, watching the flash of determination in Cloud's eyes.

"You're right." He muttered softly, looking away from her and fingering the flower in his hair. "Sorry - I just…" Cloud chuckled softly, deciding to not continue that thought. "Alright, so what are we-" Cloud's words, however, were cut off as the sound of footsteps reached their ears.

Instantly, Cloud shot up and half turned, looking towards the figure standing just a few yards away. He stared at the figure, eyes widening slightly. Dejavu hit him hard, as he was looking into Zack's familiar purple hues. But instead of the usual amusement and mischief he saw in those eyes, he saw confusion and a slight form of terror.

In that moment, Cloud wished that he had told Zack about everything that had happened before, and that was happening now. The sight of betrayal in Zack's eyes was painful, worse than the time Sephiroth had stabbed and impaled him in the chest with Masamune.

"Zack, what're you doin-" Aerith started to ask, but then stopped herself. She sighed softly, green eyes hesitant to meet the purple of the First's eyes. "It's not what it sounds like." She said simply, trying to figure out a way to explain what was going on without telling him the truth. She couldn't stand telling Zack what would happen - did happen - in their future.

As if he hadn't heard her words, Zack's eyes bore a hole into Cloud's, the purple hues narrowing slightly. Somehow, Zack knew that Cloud couldn't stand the thought of lying to him. Cloud, truly, had never been able to avoid telling the truth to Zack about _anything_. He was the absolute _worst_ liar, especially about things that were important. He needed lessons from Vincent on how to keep his cool, because even if he had saved the planet from an insane asshole multiple times, just the simple look Zack was giving Cloud made him want to cave instantly. How could he ever lie to his best friend?

"Cloud." Zack's voice was oddly serious, as if he were dealing with an enemy. "What's going on?" And Cloud couldn't lie, not to Zack's face. Helplessly, he tried to turn and look at Aerith, as if to plead for her to come to his rescue, but Zack saw through it. "Cloud!" He snapped, glaring at the man with narrowed hues.

Cloud lifted a hand, fingers digging into the back of his neck as he stood from his half-crouched position. He couldn't - wouldn't - lie to Zack about this. "Aerith, I can't lie to him." He murmured softly, eye flicking briefly to Aerith's slightly pained features. Surely this couldn't end that badly, could it? No. Zack would understand… if he explained it right, he knew that Zack would understand. Taking a deep breath, Cloud wearily met Zack's hues and gestured for the man to sit down on either the floor or one of the many benches in the Church. With little hesitance, Zack did sit, though he was obviously tense. "How much did you hear?" Cloud questioned, running his fingers through his bright golden locks.

Zack tilted his head slightly, eyes flicking from Cloud to Aerith wearily, before he looked away and to the ceiling. "...I only heard from where Aerith said something about.. Time traveling, saving the planet, and about me _dying_." Zack nearly growled out the words. Aerith and Cloud looked away for a moment. Cloud because he was reliving the last moments of Zack's life, and Aerith because she was remembering the talks she and Zack had before, in the life stream.

"Alright well… I doubt that this is believable. At least, a good portion shouldn't be that believable. If you're sane." Cloud sighed, pushing one of the benches so it was opposite of Zack, facing him, before sitting on it and gesturing for Aerith to do so, too. Slowly, Aerith joined them and Cloud hesitated, trying to figure out where to start. Aerith spoke up before he could decide, though.

"Cloud… Start with The Mission." She murmured gently, remembering that Zack had told her about it before the Planet has reset. She remembered him telling her to start there - if they had to tell him what was going on.

Cloud nodded, and took a moment longer to gather his thoughts. Then, and only then, did he begin to speak about the mission in Nibelheim, staring at the beginning of the mission, and he just kept… talking. All the way up to the four years of being with Zack through the torture of Hojo's experiments, to Zack's eventual death, to Cloud's adventures with AVALANCHE, and up to the very point he remembered last.

The fight with the remnants - with Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo. Cloud's words came out like a flow, as if he was telling an old story he knew by heart. He didn't stumble over his words like he thought he would. The only part he'd stumbled at was Zack's death, and Cloud from that point on had been unable to look at Zack as he spoke.

Zack didn't interrupt, he simply listened and those purple hues continuously shifted from Cloud to Aerith, as if he was trying to judge whether or not they were pulling an elaborate prank on him. But he couldn't find any mischief in their eyes, or any sign of lying. Cloud's eyes spoke volumes, even though he couldn't look Zack in the eye. And in that moment, Zack knew that Cloud was telling the truth, but even so that didn't explain what was going on now - clearly they weren't apart of that… dream? Zack was alive! There was no way that any of Cloud's words could be spoken like truth. Yet his eyes and his words were true.

"Are these… some sort of dreams? Are you guys pulling one over my head? I'm alive! You guys can't be serious right now." Zack grumbled at the end, too stunned to form a proper response.

"Zack… in that last battle… Cloud died. And Sephiroth… well, Kadaj and his gang had won." Aerith spoke finally, her voice a soft whisper against the dread of silence. "And they would've destroyed the planet, and there was no way to stop them." Aerith sighed softly, her eyes distant and her voice growing softer.

"Before they could destroy the planet, we used a back up plan. Plan T." She forced a small smile, and gestured quietly. "And here we are now. Plan T was a complete and total reset to the time before Sephiroth found the fake documents." Aerith clenched her hands in the skirt of her dress, looking away from Zack for but a moment before she met his eyes again. "Only I, Cloud and Vincent remember. Well… Vincent is trying to remember." She looked away again, and was about to continue when Zack's phone went off.

Sighing, Zack hesitated a moment before flipping the phone open and bringing it to his ear. A quick conversation passed, and Zack shot Cloud a small look in the middle of it before the call ended. A nagging thought was in the back of Cloud's mind, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was.

"Cloud, we have a mission.." he trailed off, scratching the back of his neck. "Man… We'll have to continue this later. Work comes first. C'mon, spiky." Zack murmured, his mind still flipping the information around in his brain.

Aerith nodded slightly, waving them out with a slightly strained smile, telling them not to worry and that she'd find her way home. "When you get back… come find me." She murmured to them both, giving each a quick hug before attending to her flowers.

Cloud and Zack made their way quietly away from the church, Zack uncharacteristically quiet and Cloud understandably worried. They hadn't had time to fully explain everything - he hoped that Zack would process what had been explained and then listen to the rest before he went right to conclusions. Surely Zack wouldn't react _that_ badly, right? It was hard to understand, but at the same time it wasn't something that was completely out there.

And while Cloud brooded over his thoughts, trying to figure out what he was going to do and how he was going to finish explaining this to Zack. And Zack? Well, Zack was thinking.

The First obviously wasn't going to just toss this idea out the window and think it impossible - he'd done things he once thought were impossible to do, seen things he still thought were impossible happen. With all of the facts that Cloud and Aerith had given him, it wasn't _that_ far-fetched. It, honestly, was just a lot to process.

He had died, in that time line? From what Cloud had said, it had been when he was protecting the blonde after being holed up in Hojo's labs for four years. He'd fought an army of ShinRa soldiers to protect Cloud? A tight feeling welled up in his chest at the thought of dying. It wasn't because he was scared at the prospect - but the way that Cloud had spoken those words.

Zack could feel the emotions that Cloud had tried not to show - the helplessness, the sadness. Cloud almost seemed like he thought it was his fault, and knowing the blonde… it's probably true. "Cloud…" He murmured softly, purple eyes lifted to the ShinRa building and then to the ceiling as they entered. "...it wasn't your fault." He finished, turning towards Cloud with a sheepish grin.

Cloud, who hadn't been expecting that, turned towards Zack with wide blue hues, confused for a moment before he realized what Zack was talking about. "What? Zack but, I-"

"But nothing spikey, it wasn't your fault and it's not gonna happen again, so don't worry about it." Zack chuckled, throwing an arm around Cloud's shoulder and pulling him close. "I mean, it's still really… weird to think about, but hey! We can fix this all, right?" He grinned, dragging Cloud with him. "We all can. I'm with you guys on this, alright? I'm not… completely over it but I don't think you'd lie about something like this." He added softly, purple hues soft and his voice holding an oddly gentle note to it.

This lasted for about a minute and a half before Zack released him and shoved him off to go and get ready for the mission. Zack escaped into the elevator, before remembering something. "Oh! Spikey… I guess it should be a fair warning that Sephiroth is going to be on this mission, too." Zack grinned at Cloud's expression, and was able to escape as the elevator doors slid shut.

Cloud groaned at the thought of being on a week-long mission with Sephiroth. The man terrified him, even if he had killed him multiple times in the future. Just one cold, indifferent look from Sephiroth would make Cloud's insides twist. Truly, that was the worst feeling. He hated feeling like absolutely nothing in that man's eyes.

Years ago, when he was younger, Sephiroth was his idol. He had adored the man, and while it still applied in a small sense, he had lost a good portion of his hero worship over the years, obviously. But a small portion of it had stuck with him, even through the years of having to fight him, of fighting JENOVA.

Shaking his head, Cloud decided that he could think on that later. If he had to interact with Sephiroth, the man probably wouldn't even notice him. Cloud, after all, was just a trooper. He wasn't anything special in this world - at least, he wasn't in everyone else's eyes. Sure, he was enhanced, but he couldn't show it to anyone. He had to be a normal trooper. Nothing different from the others that would be beside him.

Heading to the barracks, Cloud gathered the things he had already set out this morning, and headed to the meeting point. Silently he wished that Sephiroth wouldn't be there. As soon as he showed up, though, he saw the silver haired man standing off to the side for the moment. Having been late, Cloud was one of the last of the unit to show up - and more people than he'd like noticed his arrival. Including Sephiroth.

The man's eyes swept towards him, and then over him in the same motion, it was clear that Sephiroth didn't see anything interesting about him, and just like that Cloud was classified as a nobody yet again.

Shaking his head, Cloud joined his unit and waited. They would be setting off for the mission soon - as soon as Zack showed up, apparently. Hopefully that would be soon. Cloud honestly couldn't stand being in the same room as someone who tried to kill him multiple times, at least, he couldn't stand being there without support. Honestly, he doubted he could even make it through this mission without Zack here - he would probably relapse into memories accidentally.

Zack showed up, and shot Cloud a small grin. His grin dropped, though, when Sephiroth eyed Zack and seemed to reprimand him. The black-haired First looked like a kicked puppy for a moment, before Zack's grin was back and he waved Sephiroth off. "Oh shut it, tight ass." Zack grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Let's just head out!"


End file.
